Sculpt + Tone Strength Workout

Although I am a big fan of cardio and HIIT workouts,  I do know the importance of weight lifting.  I was not a regular weight lifter until maybe a couple years ago.  I now try to fit in a strength workout twice a week on top of my HIIT workout and cardio workouts.  A lot of women are scared of weight lifting because they are afraid it will make them huge.  THAT IS A MYTH!! Unless you are lifting huge amounts of weight with small reps or doing some sort of body building, that’s not going to happen.  Weightlifting builds muscle and muscle helps you burn more calories and fat.  Since I am a runner and want to work on my cardiovascular endurance, I do more reps with a lighter weight.  I am not afraid to go up in weight!! If it is easy than I  am not pushing myself hard enough which means I am not burning calories and toning muscle.   You should feel a burn in each round.  I have taken you through my cardio workout, my core workout, and my 30 minute HIIT workout; now let me introduce to you my strength workout provided with tutorial videos too!

What you will need:

• Large weight for squats(roughly 10-30 pounds)
• 4-10+ pound dumbbells for arms
• A chair or a bench or a coffee table
• A mat

Warm up: Run until you get a sweat (this time may vary from 5-15 minutes – it all depends on your fitness level) 

**OPTIONAL:  Sometimes if I feel like I need to get a real good cardio workout in, I will run on the treadmill for 20-30 minutes, but I don’t wear myself out.  It is good to do the weight lifting workout ALL OUT instead of the running part.  I do enough to “feel good”, but not dead, before I lift.

Round 1: Legs

• 20 Squats with weight straight into 20 pulsing squats // VIDEO
• One legged bridge with Weights 15 each leg // VIDEO 
• 20 JackKnife Crunches
• Do Round 1 THREE TIMES

Round 2: Arms

• Biceps with shoulder press – 15 reps // VIDEO 
• Tricep Dips – 15 reps // VIDEO 
• Commandos – 15 reps // VIDEO 
• Do Round 2 THREE TIMES

Round 3: Back

• Bent Rows – 15 reps // VIDEO 
• Wide Shoulder Raise – 15 reps // VIDEO
• Fly aways – 15 reps // VIDEO 
• Do Round 3 THREE TIMES

**Finish with some ABS:
For abs, I like to mix up my favorite ab moves for about 5 minutes.  I try to do 45 second of a movie with a 15 second break.  For ab move ideas click HERE or do Round 5 in my 30 minute HIIT workout HERE.

Cool Down: Run or walk the same amount of time you did for your warm up. (5-15 minutes) If you did the 20-30 minute run option in the beginning, then job or walk for 5 minutes.   This should be a LIGHT jog or walk.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made,